By Alan Axelrod.  ISBN-13: 978-0-7624-2769-7.  Copyright 2007.  Hardcover with 270 pages including index. 

In 1754, Washington’s defeat at Pennsylvania’s Great Meadows was the spark that launched the French and Indian War.  He was a 22 year old Virginia lieutenant colonel who led 400 American militiamen to fight a far more experienced French army.  His youthful inexperience and tactical blunders lost the battle, but ultimately shaped the leader he would become.